Ancient amber discovery reshapes Antarctica's icy past
The argument that Antarctica harbours more than just vast expanses of snow and ice is not particularly new. However, thanks to the latest scientific discovery, it gains a tangible dimension. This 90-million-year-old finding could definitively alter our understanding of Antarctica's history.
As reported by the portal ladbible.com, while Antarctica is commonly associated with ice and snow, evidence suggests the land was not always completely frozen. The latest evidence supporting this theory comes from scientists in Germany who found amber on the western side of the continent. They believe this is a crucial clue to help decode Antarctica's past.
It was very exciting to realise that, at some point in their history, all seven continents had climatic conditions allowing resin-producing trees to survive — said Johann Klages, head of research and marine geologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, as quoted by ladbible.com.
Researchers hope they can now learn more about the forest ecosystem that might have existed in Antarctica. The presence of amber on the continent also confirms that trees once grew there. Scientists suspect a swampy and temperate rainforest might once have existed. - This discovery allows for a journey into the past in an even more direct way — added Klages.
Amber is not the only evidence
Amber is not the only evidence that trees were present in Antarctica. Scientists had already found fossils of the continent's roots, pollen, and spores.
The estimated age of the amber at 90 million years suggests that trees likely thrived in this area during the Cretaceous period. The Cretaceous is the last period of the Mesozoic era and lasted about 80 million years. It was a time when Earth was much warmer than today, with a very warm and quite humid climate prevailing across the entire planet. Antarctica was no exception.
